(Football news)
4th January: ‘El Niño’ Torres makes an emotional return to Atletico de Madrid (2015)
40,000 Atletico de Madrid fans of all ages were at the Vicente Calderon on 4 January 2015 to welcome rojiblanco legend Fernando Torres back to his boyhood club, years after leaving for successful spells in England with Liverpool and Chelsea. The older supporters present recalled the impact ‘El Niño’ – ‘the kid’ – had as an angel-faced teenager when the team was struggling through the early 2000s, while younger fans had cheered his contribution to Spain’s Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 victories. Just a few weeks later all Atleti fans were celebrating the now-30 year old scoring his first goals in eight years in an Atletico jersey to eliminate Real Madrid from the Copa del Rey. In total, Torres scored 103 goals in 281 LALIGA games across his two spells with Atleti.
4th January: Zidane unveiled as Real Madrid’s first ‘galactico’ coach (2016)
Exactly 12 months later it was Real Madrid fans who were cheering as Zinedine Zidane was presented as the new first team coach at the Bernabeu. Former playing galactico Zidane was promoted from coach of the club’s Castilla youth team to replace Rafa Benítez, with Blancos president Florentino Perez telling a press conference that the 1998 Ballon D’Or winner and 2002 Champions League final goalscorer was “one of the greatest figures in football history.” Nobody yet knew that Zidane was also a top top coach, but a few days later he got off to a flying start with a 5-0 cruise past RC Deportivo in his first LALIGA game in charge. Five months later he had guided the team to the first of three consecutive Champions league trophies.
6th January: Xabi Prieto scores hat-trick but Real Madrid still win a dramatic game (2013)
There was drama even before kick-off at the Bernabeu on 6 January 2013, as Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho dropped club captain Iker Casillas from the starting XI. Mourinho’s side looked set for a routine victory, when Karim Benzema calmly put the home side ahead inside two minutes, but then back-up goalkeeper Antonio Adan committed a professional foul and was red carded. Casillas entered the play, but La Real’s Xabi Prieto converted the penalty. Sami Khedria’s clever flick made it 2-1 Madrid, only for Prieto to rifle past Casillas for 2-2. After the break, two goals in two minutes from Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to have ended the contest, but Prieto was not finished yet and pinged a shot to the net via the far post for his hat-trick. It was superb entertainment and a gift for neutrals on the day of the epiphany, when Spanish children traditionally receive their Christmas presents.
7th January: Marcelo’s LALIGA debut does not hint at what was to come (2007)
57 minutes gone at RC Deportivo’s Riazor stadium on 7 January 2007, and Real Madrid were 2-0 down. Visiting coach Fabio Capello sent on two Brazilian substitutes – one was World Cup and Ballon D’Or winner Ronaldo Nazario, the other an 18-year-old Brazilian left-back called Marcelo Vieira Da Silva Junior, who had just recently joined the club. Neither could stop Depor completing their victory, and another Brazilian Roberto Carlos soon returned from injury to take back the left-back slot. In 2022, Marcelo left Real Madrid fifteen years after his arrival being the most awarded player of the club history, with 25.
7th January: ‘El Cholo’ Simeone makes a statement on his Atleti debut in the dugout (2012)
Diego Simeone’s first game as Atletico de Madrid coach, on 7 January 2012 at Malaga’s La Rosaleda stadium, was a statement of intent. Atleti kept their first clean sheet in nine LALIGA games, with the foundations of hard work, aggression, and honesty evident from the start as they earned a point to climb to 10th place in the LALIGA EA SPORTS table. Nine players who featured that day were in the rojiblanco squad which won the 2013-14 LALIGA title less than two years later. With more than ten years on, El Cholo remains Atleti coach – the longest tenured coach in Europe’s major leagues – and has added another LALIGA EA SPORTS title to his trophy cabinet.
8th January: Forlán brace as Villarreal batter Barça (2005)
Diego Forlan took quickly to LALIGA after joining Villarreal in summer 2005 for Manchester United. The Uruguayan’s class was evident the following 8 January at El Madrigal, with two fine strikes helping the Yellow Submarine to a famous 3-0 victory over a Barcelona side featuring the likes of Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. Villarreal had their own stars too. Forlan’s first came from a trademark Joan Roman Riquelme assist, while Pepe Reina and Marcos Senna were also teammates. Forlan’s finished his first LALIGA season with 25 goals to win the top scorer award, a trophy he again won in 2008-09 when he hit 32 LALIGA goals in an Atleti shirt.
11 January 2016: Messi moves to five Ballon d’Ors
There was tension at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on 11 January 2016 as the Ballon D’Or ceremony progressed. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo had won the trophy in the two previous years, but Lionel Messi had led Barcelona to five trophies including LALIGA and Champions League during 2015. In the end the decision was clear, Messi won 41% of the votes cast, Ronaldo was second with 28%, and another Barça attacker Neymar third with 8%. The mood among the trio was friendly, with Ronaldo saying at a shared news conference that “Messi’s left foot is pretty good, better than mine.” “I’d take both of his feet,” said Neymar, to smiles all around. “Cristiano has many great qualities, which every player would like to have,” said a gracious Messi, then 28 and at the peak of his powers, as he won a fifth Ballon D’Or. (He now has eight, after winning again in 2019, 2021 and 2023).
13 January 2019: Messi scores his 400th goal in LALIGA
2019 also saw Messi set even more personal records – with his 400th LaLiga goal arriving on 13 January, when a swish of his left boot sent the ball flying past Eibar goalkeeper Asier Riesgo during a 3-0 victory over the Basque side at the Camp Nou. Luis Suarez got Barça’s other two goals that night, but as often around FC Barcelona, it was all about the team’s talismanic number 10. Blaugrana statisticians calculated that 327 of Messi’s first LALIGA 400 were scored with his favoured left foot, 58 finished with his right, 14 with his head and one had gone in off his hand. It took the Argentine, then 31 years old, just 435 LALIGA games to reach the mark.
13 January 2018: Villarreal’s first LALIGA win at the Bernabeu
History was also made at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on 13 January 2018, although the majority of those present did not celebrate too much. Real Madrid dominated possession and managed 28 shots at goal over the 90 minute, but a number of excellent saves from Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo kept it scoreless. Cristiano Ronaldo had 11 efforts at goal without success, including one shot from just three yards which the Portuguese poked uncharacteristically wide. As the game moved towards added time, Madrid threw more players forward, but were caught on the break as a splendid Villarreal counter-attack was finished sweetly by Pablo Fornals. Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane could not believe what he was seeing, as his reigning LALIGA title holders fell 16 points behind leaders and 2018-19 champions elect Barcelona.
15 January 2006: A collectors item for Zidane against Sevilla
Zidane had a happier day at the Bernabeu on 15 January 2006, when Sevilla arrived for a top of the table LALIGA clash. The Frenchman set up teammate Guti for Madrid’s opening goal, only for Sevilla’s Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano to smash in an equaliser after half-time. Zidane restored Madrid’s lead from the penalty spot, before Guti repaid his earlier assist with a sensational back-heel which freed the Frenchman inside the area to make it 3-1 by firing confidently to the top corner. Sevilla kept battling, and the Andalusians’ defender Aitor Ocio pulled one back at a set-piece. Zidane would not be denied though, and slammed in a left-footed shot from the edge of the area to complete the scoring, and complete the only LALIGA hat-trick of the galactico’s career.
20th January: Llorente the quickest of all (2008)
Not everyone had yet taken their seat at the Jose Zorrilla stadium on 20 January 2008, when Valladolid forward Joseba Llorente kicked off by touching the ball to midfielder Victor, who turned and surprised everyone with a chipped ball over the surprised and flat-footed Espanyol defence. It landed ideally for the sprinting Llorente to control and he lifted the ball perfectly over the stranded keeper Iñaki Lafuente. There were just seven seconds on the clock, and Llorente had scored what still remains the quickest goal in all LALIGA history. The Basque centre-forward scored again in a 2-1 win for Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Valladolid side over an Espanyol team coached by Ernesto Valverde – who said afterwards that he had “never before started a game at 0-1 down.” Llorente himself denied that he and Victor had planned the move to take advantage of sleeping opponents… it had just happened, to everyone’s surprise.
22nd January: Odegaard smiles for the cameras at the Bernabeu (2015)
All of Europe’s biggest clubs were watching as Martin Odegaard emerged at Norwegian club Stromsgodset, playing and scoring in the Tippeligaen at just 15 years old, representing his country in UEFA competition before his 16th birthday in December 2014. Real Madrid won the race for the starlet’s signature and the following 22 January, Odegaard was proudly presented by Blancos director Emilio Butragueno at the Santiago Bernabeu. The happy teenager grinned for their cameras and spoke about his excitement at joining the LALIGA giants. A few months later, Odegaard became Real Madrid’s youngest ever LALIGA debutant [16 years and 157 days] when replacing Cristiano Ronaldo in a game against Getafe at the Bernabeu. After loan spells with Dutch teams Heerenveen and Vitesse Arnhem, he spent the 2019-20 on loan at LALIGA rivals Real Sociedad to wild success. Still aged just 22 he was back at Madrid in summer 2020 working to establish himself in Zinedine Zidane’s first team, but in January 2021 he finally moved to England to play for Arsenal. First, on loan until the end of the season 2020/21, and finally transferred after paying 35 million euros for him.
24 January: Super Depor roll over the European champions (1999)
There was anticipation of a close battle at Abanca Riazor stadium on 24 January 1999, with locals RC Deportivo welcoming Champions League holders Real Madrid. It did not turn out that way. Depor were 1-0 up after 10 minutes when midfielder Fran fired a free kick past visiting goalkeeper Bodo Illgner. Real Madrid tried to react but Davor Suker missed a chance to equalise and it was 2-0 when Flavio and Pauleta combined in the visitors’ penalty area, and Argentine striker Turu Flores finished to the net. Portuguese forward Pauleta made it 3-0 before half-time, to great joy in the Riazor stands. Flores made it four soon after the break, with Madrid’s defence already having decided it was not going to be their day. It was one of the most glorious games of the Galician team’s golden age – with things getting even more exciting the following season when ‘Super-Depor’ smashed their way to the club’s first ever LALIGA trophy.
26 January: Betis keeper Toni Prats scores a free kick! (2000)
Goalkeepers do score on occasion – perhaps when the wind catches a long hoof forward or after going forward for a set-piece with your team behind and time almost up. But former Real Betis keeper Toni Prats had a much more special skill. There were six minutes left at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on 26 January 2000, with the score at 2-0 to the home team, when Betis were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Madrid area. Up strode Prats to fire the ball through the defensive wall, and past the dive of opposite number Iker Casillas to the net. Nobody was even that surprised at the time, as Prats also scored for Betis in a 2-1 LALIGA win over Atletico de Madrid the previous October, when his free kick had deflected off the wall and left Atletico keeper Jose Molina flat-footed.
27 January: Messi ‘pokers’ CA Osasuna (2013)
Just 11 minutes were played at the Camp Nou on 27 January 2013 when Lionel Messi dummied CA Osasuna keeper Andres Fernandez with a wiggle of his hips before opening the scoring. Messi then rifled in a penalty and with less than an hour gone had rounded Fernandez again to complete his own hat-trick and put Barça 4-1 ahead. That matched the treble which his personal rival Cristiano Ronaldo had scored inside ten second half minutes in Real Madrid’s LALIGA victory over Getafe CF earlier the same day. So Messi kept going, and a four goal ‘poker’ was completed late on when he touched home a cross from Brazilian full-back Adriano Correia. Both Messi and Ronaldo were warming up very well for a Copa del Rey ELCLASICO to come later that same week.
30 January: Guti’s audacious assist (2010)
Everyone at RC Deportivo Abanca Riazor stadium on 30 January 2010 were sure what was going to happen when a pass from Real Madrid playmaker Kaká sent his teammate Guti clear through one-on-one with Depor goalkeeper Dani Aranzubia with a great chance to make it 2-0. Everyone, that is, except Guti himself, who promptly declined to shoot but instead backheeled the ball into the path of Karim Benzema, who was following up behind and had the simple task of knocking the ball to the now empty net. Madrid won the game 3-1, with Benzema scoring again, but what everyone remembers was mercurial character Guti providing probably the most famous, and audacious, assist in LALIGA history.
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